Refreshed Georgian Tenement House

Originally built around 1740 as a tenement with two separate dwellings sharing a wall, this Georgian tenement house was combined into a single family home in the twentieth century by penetrating the shared wall with doorways and cased openings, preserving the two mirrored staircases that remain within the house today.

The goal of the latest renovation was to preserve the house's character-defining interior and exterior features, while sensitively refreshing spaces that had undergone heavy renovations in the past.  The basement areas, most recently relegated to service and storage spaces, were comprehensively reimagined as a sitting room, bar, and wine storage.  This required switching an existing first-floor powder room and basement stair, both of which were products of late twentieth-century renovations.  The kitchen and bathrooms were reconfigured to capture inefficiently used space and to align with the aesthetic vision for the rest of the house.  Most notably, an enclosed porch on the rear of the house was comprehensively overhauled, removing inappropriate recent modifications while re-exposing historic columns that had been concealed.  Vinyl sliding windows were replaced with floor-to-ceiling steel doors and custom ironwork.  A modern wood stair was replaced with a brick stoop, which was relocated on axis with the enfilade leading through the house to the front door.  With functional and aesthetic modifications, this challenging house preserves its history while adapting to suit a contemporary lifestyle.